Conventional golf balls generally include a core surrounded by a cover. The cover forms a spherical outer surface of the ball and the surface includes a plurality of dimples. The core and/or the cover can be formed of a plurality of layers and the core can include a solid or fluid-filled center surrounded by windings and/or molded material. The covers of presently available golf balls are typically formed from a variety of materials such as balata, polyurethane and ionomer resins such as SURLYN® and IOTEK®, depending upon the desired performance characteristics of the golf ball and desired properties of the cover.
Golf balls are provided in a variety of colors. Conventionally they are white, but they may be manufactured with essentially any desired color. The color is imparted either by layers of paint applied to the outer surface of the ball or by incorporating a pigment directly into the cover composition. Typically, in a painted ball, a first coat or primer layer of paint is applied, followed by a second, i.e., finishing coat or layer. After a ball has been colored, identifying indicia such as a trademark, logo, identification number, model name and/or number, and the like can be stamped or printed onto the ball.
It is important that golf balls be capable of withstanding a variety of weather conditions such as sunlight, extreme temperature ranges, and immersion in water, preferably for an extended period. Further, the surface of a golf ball is flexed every time it is impacted with a club and, consequently, it must be able to withstand repeated stresses without damage to the cover. There are multiple sources of other types of degradation to the ball, for example, being struck with a grooved club head or landing on a rocky or abrasive surface such as a cart path. Resistance to such impact and abrasion is an important feature of a golf ball.
It is further desirable for golf ball manufacturers that their golf balls be resistant to delamination or chipping of the paint layers, as aesthetic defects tend to negatively impact the public perception of golf ball quality. Likewise, golf ball manufacturers prefer to protect trademarks, logos or other identifying indicia which identifies the brand of the ball to the playing public.
Golf balls are, therefore, generally subjected to at least one clear or pigmented top coat, primer coat, or other protective coat, which covers the golf ball outer surface in order to improve the overall appearance of the ball, e.g., high-gloss surface. In addition, a top coat helps to protect any painted or primed layers and/or printed patterns thereon from degradation during the golf ball's normal useful life. Such coatings can be applied as a single layer or as a multiple layers.
Paint layers or protective coating materials can be applied by various methods. One such method uses a coating gun to spray the paint or coating material as atomized particles. In this method, an operator must visually observe the spray as a ball is coated, determine whether the spray adequately coats the ball, and then manually change the orientation or location of the gun, as necessary. As a result, a number of balls may be improperly coated during set-up, which leads to increased manufacturing costs due to wasted materials. In addition, an operator must shut down the line to make routine measurements, e.g., spray volume per pulse, and adjust if necessary, which leads to production inefficiencies due to line downtime on the line.
Furthermore, water-based coatings, in general, while desirable due to the low toxicity of the solvent, are much harder to evaporate than volatile organic materials, and therefore, are energy intensive, requiring expensive drying ovens to remove the water.
Moreover, coatings and inks used in spraying and pad printing techniques typically involve volatile organic compounds (VOC) found in the compounds used. Manufacturers of printed products may be strongly affected by federal and local regulations that impose restrictions on the emission of VOCs, such as methyl ethyl ketone, acetone, toluene, alcohols, and chlorinated solvents, to the atmosphere.
No system or method is presently known in the golf ball industry for monitoring various spray system properties before, during, and/or after painting. Thus, there remains a need for an automatic coating control system capable of monitoring and adjusting spray properties of the system at various stages of the process for three-dimensional objects, in particular, golf balls.